Chapter 14
Ryan
I sprint into the café, Mum following behind.
Ian’s in the garage fixing his bike, and wouldn’t have got here in time, so Riley called me; I just was at home, enjoying my morning off.
I left in a hurry and went to find Mum, who was out searching for Dad.
They’d gone out to run some errands, but while she was paying at the till, Dad had quietly wandered off: Mum, blinded by panic, couldn’t find him anywhere.
He must have walked off down the high street and lost his bearings.
I approach the table where Christine is sitting with Dad. Mum takes my arm and asks me under her breath to calm down, and take a few steps back. We never know how to behave when this happens, whether Dad will just be confused or be angry and irritable.
He’s talking to Christine, smiling while she holds his hand. She’s calming him down. They sit, sipping their coffees together with something to eat, like two old friends. He’s relaxed, he feels safe, at home.
She makes him feel like that.
“What a sweet girl,” Mum whispers to me.
I nod, my jaw clenched.
“Hey, I came as soon as I could,” Nick says loudly, storming into the café with enough of a racket to make Christine look up from their conversation.
She smiles at us and nods, while Mum slowly makes her way over to their table. She gently places her hand on the back of Dad’s chair, trying to discreetly enter into their conversation.
“Ian’s on his way,” Nick tells me. “He couldn’t head over right away, he was working on his bike.”
“It’s alright, I was around. I can handle stuff like this on my own, you know.”
“It’s not a competition, Ryan.”
I ignore him and go over to the table too, but in silence.
A few customers come in, and Christine gets up and excuses herself. My father says goodbye, thanking her and extending his hand, then she heads back behind the counter.
“Do you know her?” asks Nick, coming over to us.
“Not very well, I’ve only been here a few times.”
“Well, we should thank her.”
“Sure. I’ll do it.”
Nick sits down with our parents, and I approach the counter, where she’s starting up the coffee machine. I clear my throat and she looks up.
“Er…” I stammer, incapable of telling her what I need to tell her.
“I saw him outside, he seemed confused.”
I sigh, painfully.
“They’ve been coming here for years, and I’ve never seen him like this.”
“He has his moments,” I say vaguely.
“I understand,” she arranges some mugs onto a tray, then nods at a girl to take them over to one of the tables. “Can I get you anything?”
“No, I’m fine, thanks…”
“I’ll take you up on that,” Nick interjects. “Could I have a cappuccino and a sandwich? I don’t mind which, anything’s good. I was out early this morning and I didn’t get to have breakfast.”
“Sure,” she smiles at him.
She smiled at Nick.
I feel like a petrol tank has just exploded in my stomach.
“Thank you for keeping our father company.”
“Our?” she asks, looking between us.
“We haven’t been introduced yet,” Nick says, extending his hand.
Jesus, Nick. You’ll never change.
“I’m Nick, I haven’t been back in town for long so I’ve never had the chance to come into this café before – but now that I know about it, I’ll be coming back a lot more.”
“Well, nice to meet you then, Nick. I’m Chris, and this is my little café.”
Chris.
There goes another petrol tank. This time the explosion is deafening.
“I’ve known your parents for ages, and your brother, Ian, and Riley.”
“So it was just me you were missing.”
“It appears so, unless you have another brother hidden away somewhere.”
“No, that’s it. Oh, and this is our little Ryan.”
Fucking bastard.
“We already know each other,” she says flatly. “Go sit down with your parents, I’ll bring your order over.”
“Thanks, Chris.”
“What would your mother like? Do you think she’d like a bowl of soup, or something else?”
“She loves potato soup.”
“Perfect, that’s our soup of the day. I’ll bring her one right away,” she smiles again and walks away.
“Very nice. Not a bad…”
“Fuck off, Nick!” I leave him there and storm outside the café to calm down. I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m sure as hell that I won’t like it.
Nick catches up with me a few seconds later.
“What’s wrong with you? What’ve I done now?”
“Nothing, Nick. You never do a fucking thing.”
“I was just talking to Chris, she seems nice. She helped out Dad…” he stops, suddenly. “Oh.”
“Oh, what?” I attack him right away.
“You could’ve told me.”
“Told you what?”
“That you like her.”
“Don’t bullshit me. Have you seen her?”
“Yes, I have. And it seems like you have, too.”
“Oh, please. If you like her so much, go ahead and fuck her. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
“Ryan…”
“I’m not interested, I don’t like her. To be honest, I hate her. She’s stupid, and she has an arse as big as the boot of my car. I mean, come on, she’s a waitress…”
A voice behind us makes us start.
“Everything’s ready at your table. I just wanted to let you know,” she says, turning back inside.
“You’re a real dickhead,” Nick growls, before heading inside and leaving me alone with my gut-wrenching guilt.